College and Career Ready is a
phrase you hear a lot about these days in education. Topeka Public Schools is committed to
preparing all students to be college and career ready upon graduation. This morning, school district leaders and representatives
of business, industry, government and higher education met to talk about the
subject. “The meeting is to ask for
input from business and industry about what we need to do to prepare our
students for their future careers.” said Superintendent Dr. Julie Ford. “That may include college, technical school
or could be on the job training. What do
we need to do as a district to get there.”
KBS Constructors Vice
President Neal Fisher was one of those attending the meeting. “There’s more and more competition for the
skills that we need to keep our business going, so the ability and opportunity
to get involved and create that pool of qualified employees is huge.”
Ideas and information
gathered at the meeting will help Topeka Public Schools design courses that will
help prepare students for a job or career, but also help businesses and
economic development in the Topeka area.“The information we get will be implemented into our post secondary and
career vision for preK-12th grade as well as developing specific courses
and programs that we can offer in our secondary schools beginning in the fall
of 2013,” said Director of School and Career Programs Eileen Caspers.
Topeka Public Schools already
offers students courses in robotics, bio-technology and health care. The school district is also introducing
students to future careers through internships and partnerships with Westar
Energy, Stormont-Vail HealthCare and other local businesses.
